SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Central Coast's marine fog is bringing more than cool temperatures. A new study shows there is mercury in the fog that is linked to elevated levels of mercury in mountain lions.

"We admire mountain lions, we fear mountain lions, they are our competition with us in some ways because they will eat livestock. But we depend on there being mountain lions," said Peter Weiss-Penzias, associate researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The study was published Tuesday by researchers at UC Santa Cruz, including its lead author, Weiss-Penzias, who is an environmental toxicologist. The study discovered high levels of mercury in mountain lions from the Santa Cruz Mountains. The neurotoxin is coming out of the ocean through a process that happens in the deep ocean involving mercury.

"Comes out of the ocean, into the atmosphere where the fog acts as a stabilizing medium to absorb the mercury and waft over to land," Weiss-Penzias said.

Those levels of mercury are approaching toxic thresholds for mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. That finding based on the fur and whiskers of 94 mountain lions. Researchers say the danger zone for mercury levels is between 3 and 21 parts per million. The average for the 94 pumas tested is 1.5 parts per million.

"There were a number of individuals that exceeded the threshold, I think six altogether and one of them exceeded the 21 parts per million level and it was dead. It was found dead, and (there is) no known cause of death," Weiss-Penzias said.

The study was twofold. It tested mercury levels in mountain lions and their food source deer and lichen, a moss type plant that deer eat. The other part is testing the mercury levels in the fog.

Weiss-Penzias showed off the fog machine they place on the roof of their building to collect samples. "The fan pulls the air through, the fog goes in and it hits the strings. And they drip down to a little tray," he explains.

From there, the researcher said he takes it to another machine to register the amount of mercury is in the samples.

"Comes out the other side and goes into this detector, which is very specific for mercury," he explained.

The researcher said mercury release is a global issue. "Solutions are hard to come by. Turning the mercury off at the source is going to be the most important thing," Weiss-Penzias said.